Misplaced
by stopstealingmyusername
Summary: Raised with his mother among dragons, Hiccup goes on a journey to find allies that will help him end the viking-dragon war. Adventure, romance, and antics ensue.
1. Chapter 1

**Heyyyyyy! So this is my first fanfic, I hope you all enjoy!**

**Raised with his mother among dragons, Hiccup goes on a journey to find allies that will help him end the viking-dragon war. Adventure, romance, and antics ensue. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own httyd or any of its characters.**

_Monstrous._

That was the only word that could come to Hiccup's mind as he gazed upon the enormity of dragon queen, greedily eating the tribute she demanded of those in her nest. Offering after offering, food that could have fed an entire village for a year disappeared down the dragon queen's throat. After dropping the food into her gaping mouth, the dragons huddled in fear inside the walls of the cavern, hoping that they had brought enough to appease their queen.

Hiccup's green eyes darkened with anger and disgust as he looked upon the monster. From what he had come to learn, no matter how much his brethren brought, her voracious appetite was insatiable, and thus they constantly had to risk their lives raiding viking tribes to feed her.

He had heard whispers- rumors among some of the dragons that would join his nest. They would rarely speak of the queen, not wanting to remember the terror they would rather forget. The few times Hiccup was able to hear of her, he devoted every bit of information to memory.

The first he had heard of it was when he was around 10 years old. A gronkle had arrived at his nest during the winter, very much shaken up. His mother had a hard time tending to the gronkle, as it had a severe distrust of humans. Eventually, it had given in due to its exhaustion and let his mother treat her wounds. When his mother questioned the gronkle on what had happened to her after gaining her trust, she spoke in hushed tones, as if some unseen evil was silently watching her.

_::I ran away...I was terrified and ran away.::_

Hiccup remembered his mother looking at the shaken dragon sympathetically and speaking gently to her.

"You're safe now, my friend." she had said, putting a comforting hand on her head. "What terrified you so that you had to ran away?"

It took a long while for the gronkle to reply, but when she did, her eyes were wide with fear as she whispered, ::_The dragon queen_…::

A look of realization and anger had flashed across Valka's face, but she remained silent for the dragon to continue.

_::The dragon queen she...she ate...my mate::_

Valka's face had then contorted with horror while the gronkle's was full of grief and fear.

::_He didn't bring her enough food, all he could find was one fish...and then_…::

The gronkle couldn't speak anymore, visibly shaking from the memory. Valka pressed no further, and had spoke comfortingly to ease the terrified creature.

Hiccup remembered secretly watching this scene unfold, listening in horror of the story of a dragon that would _eat_ its own kind. He later tried questioning his mother about it, to which he was given a reprimanding lecture for eavesdropping, and was given no more information than what he had already learned. When he asked why she couldn't go and free those dragons like she freed them from vikings, his mother could only reply sadly,

"Too many deaths would be the outcome. We must protect our own."

Hiccup, though understanding why his mother wanted to avoid the monster, couldn't just let the issue go. He tried gathering more information on the creature, but was only recently able to discover its whereabouts 6 years after first learning about it when his mother started taking him with her to free captured dragons in villages. Valka had forbade him to go with her until he "was of age" out of fear for the safety of her son.

They had gone to village after village, coming in the dead of night freeing the dragons the villagers keep for purposes Hiccup shuddered thinking about. After coming to one village, in the middle of freeing the dragons, a raid had occurred. Thanks to the chaos, Hiccup and his mother were able to escape quietly, but not before Hiccup noticed the direction in which the dragons were hauling their stolen food. He finally had an idea as to where the queen's nest was.

During the flight back, he had also noticed something else. Twice they had steered clear of one particular village, keeping enough distance to where even the watchmen would just wave them off as birds. Hiccup had questioned his mother about it, to which she replied,

"That...is Berk. That particular village has more hatred for dragons than any other, and is the most dangerous. Never go there."

The amount of sternness and solemnity in her demeanor and voice had surprised Hiccup. Valka said no more than that, and even though his curiosity was burning, Hiccup knew from experience that when his mother didn't want to elaborate, he couldn't get her to say any more.

By the time Hiccup turned 18, Valka was fine with him going to villages on his own. By dividing and conquering, they were able to free dragons twice as fast from the villages. What took 2 months now only one, and during that time, Hiccup had decided to visit the Queen's nest with the help of a very reluctant nadder who he had freed and promised to bring to his nest in return for her help. He would've brought the changewing that he had been flying with, but their combined unfamiliar scents would've given them away to the queen, which brought him to the present.

Hiccup knew he couldn't stay there long, knowing that the Queen would eventually catch his scent. So after observing for another minute, he and his nadder mount left quickly and quietly while the queen was still distracted by the food being dropped down her gullet.

_::I hope to never see her again.::_ The nadder shuddered with residual fear after their encounter with the queen.

Hiccup patted her comfortingly as they flew towards his nest to the north. He was thoughtful during the entire flight, trying to come up with some sort of strategy to help the dragons under the queen's control. He knew he and his mother couldn't do it on their own, and the dragons wouldn't fight against their queen out of their fear of her. What they needed were more riders, but that would be difficult given the hatred many harbored for the dragons, though misplaced. Hiccup knew he had to try and find allies if he wanted all the bloodshed to finally be over, but how and where should he start looking? Even if he did find allies who would help, his mother would deter him by any means if it meant his safety. He would need to hide somewhere she couldn't find him, somewhere she would never look…

Then an idea came to him.

Berk.

She would never think to look for him there, as Hiccup knew that his mother tried avoiding that island like the plague, for whatever her reasons were. And if he could find allies amongst the vikings that supposedly "had more hatred for dragons than any other", maybe them becoming allies with the dragons would convince other villages to follow…

With that thought, Hiccup's mind was set.

After returning home and having a celebratory dinner with his mother over their successful mission, Hiccup retired to his room, thoroughly exhausted. Using what little energy he had left, he shooed away the terrible terrors that decided to take up residence on his bed furs, before laying down and going over his plan in his head.

After being home for a few weeks or so, he and his mother would head out again and part ways to different villages to free dragons. This time however, Hiccup wouldn't be going to those villages. No, during that time, he would be in Berk, searching for those open and brave enough to join him in ending the bloody war.

**Yay! Finished the first chapter! Don't worry, you'll be meeting Astrid and Toothless in the next chapter. Also, please review! Constructive criticism is very much appreciated since this is my first story :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Geez, this was a super long chapter to write! Enjoy!**

**Again, regrettably I do no own httyd or its characters. **

Almost all the fire was put out by the time the first hints of sunrise appeared over the horizon. It had been a rough night for everyone. The raid had lasted longer than usual, many buildings had been burned down, and of course, many sheep and cured meats that were supposed to help the village through the bitter winter had been hauled off. However, thankfully there would be no funerals that day. The worst injuries the Berkians sustained were a few lost fingers and some broken limbs here and there, nothing that Gothi, the village healer, couldn't fix.

Astrid let out a heavy sigh after throwing a bucketful of water onto the side of a building, trying to help put out the last of the flames. Wiping the sweat and ash that had accumulated on her forehead with the back of her hand, Astrid inspected the rest of the building with a careful eye, making sure the fire was completely gone. Even leaving a few hot embers would run the risk of reigniting the flames. Satisfied with her handiwork, Astrid trudged off to her house to retrieve her axe. Though she was exhausted by fighting dragons in the wee hours of the morning, followed by helping put out fires, her eyes were alight with excitement.

The week before the raid, Chief Stoic had invested in some weapons that Trader Johann had brought with him, one of them being a net catapult. Most vikings had shrugged the weapon off, including Astrid. There wasn't as much glory in using some sort of device to take down a dragon than using one's own sheer force and strength. Nonetheless, Stoic purchased it, maybe in hopes that the catapult would prove invaluable...and it had.

During the raid, Astrid had just happened to be near the catapult when she heard a familiar whistling through the air, followed by the terrified shouts of "Night Fury! Get down!". The creature truly lived up to the title of being "the offspring of lightning and death itself". With the combined speed at which it had flown through the air and the powerful plasma blast that it shot, the winged beast had made quick work of creating a hole in the roof of the barn. The gap it made was big enough for a dragon to crawl through effortlessly and rob the contents within. Astrid had grimaced at the fact the bloody beast managed to find the sheep, and had sworn angrily at the thieving dragon. In the corner of her eye, Astrid had seen the catapult and, acting quickly, ran over to it and manned it. She scanned the sky for any trace of the elusive dragon. Her eyes had strained against the night sky, thinking that she was attempting the impossible- after all, the creature was well known for how it camouflaged perfectly in the dark.

If Astrid had blinked, she would've missed it.

There it was, a black figure blotting out the stars of Orion's Belt as it had sailed across the sky. She'd reacted quickly and fired the net, hoping that in her haste her aim wouldn't have faltered and failed her. Astrid's prayer had been answered by the terrified roar of the dragon as it fell from the heavens, landing to where it seemed was just past Raven's Point.

"...I did it.." she had whispered to herself, in awe and disbelief of what had happened.

It had taken her moment for the reality of what she had done to kick in, but when it did, she had whooped and hollered at her success.

"I DID IT!"

Astrid had turned around, grinning ear to ear to see if anyone had witnessed the accomplishment of a lifetime, but to her profound disappointment, everyone had been too busy trying to win their own battles to notice hers.

Though Astrid was ecstatic about the fact that she had single-handedly took down a night fury, she was reluctant to share the news once she realized she didn't have a single witness to back up her story. After all, there was the chance that she might not have been able to recover the body. The dragon might have escaped the netting somehow, or might've even fallen into the ocean and drowned. If Astrid had yelled from the roof tops that she had downed a night fury and had no witness and no body as evidence, she would look like a fool. So, she kept her victory a secret, at least until she could find the dragon as proof.

Astrid snuck quietly in and out of her home trying to avoid the villagers, especially her mother and father, who might ask about what she was up to. Retrieving her axe was an easy enough task, and after leaving through the back door, she moved stealthily in the shadows of the village. It didn't take Astrid long to reach the forest's edge, and once she did, she quickly sprinted through the trees, trying to put a reasonable distance between herself and the village.

"Wouldn't want to run into anyone, now would I?" she said aloud, a small smirk on her face.

After deciding she was a good ways away, she slowed her pace considerably as to not miss any signs of the fallen dragon. The initial thrill of trying to find her prey didn't last long. After the first hour of searching, Astrid grew more and more frustrated at her coming up empty handed, and the fatigue from the raid wasn't helping her mood any. After two hours, she was seething, thinking that she wouldn't be able to recover anything. In her frustration, Astrid angrily cried out as she threw her axe at a nearby tree, it making a satisfying "thwack" as it buried deep inside the trunk.

Sighing, Astrid began walking towards the tree to retrieve her axe, her anger dissipating into bitter disappointment and weariness. However, as she made her way towards her weapon, Astrid noticed something off about the tree.

"Claw marks." she whispered, hope and adrenaline starting to rush through her body once again.

Scanning the area, a path of destruction stemmed from the tree, littered with shiny black scales. Astrid grabbed her axe and slowly followed the trail, trying to keep her breathing and footsteps as soundless as possible. Her heartbeat thundered loudly in her ears as she slowly peered down over the cliff, bracing herself as to what she might find...

and...

Nothing.

She visibly deflated. All that remained of proof that she downed a night fury were some black scales and torn up netting. Her hopes were once again dashed at the realization that the devil of a beast escaped her. She would've rather had it drown in the ocean. At least then, the dragon scourge would've no longer tormented Berk.

Astrid picked up the rope, looking at it with disdain.

_I almost had the bloody beast! _She thought angrily.

_All of that glory, all of the that honor and fame, just _gone!

_If only these damn ropes would've…_

_...Wait..._

Astrid's quickly brought the rope closer, her eyes widening and features frowning in concentration as she looked at it carefully.

_It doesn't look like the rope was snapped or chewed through, they're..._clean. She thought with a puzzled look on her face.

_It's as if someone…_

Astrid's thoughts were cut short as she caught movement in her peripheral vision.

"Who's there?!" she hissed, dropping into a defensive crouch while brandishing her axe.

Astrid was only met with silence, but she could feel the presence of someone nearby, silently watching her. Her eyes darted around, trying to find her unseen opponent while her ears listened closely for the slightest noise.

"Who are you?! Show yourself coward!" she challenged.

Again, she was met with a silence that unnerved her. She was more used to her opponents coming at her boldly and ferociously, much like dragons and vikings. She could deal with enemies that fought her honestly and head on. However, the enemy she now faced seemed more calculating and assessing, hiding in the shadows waiting for the opportune moment to strike. It disconcerted Astrid in a way that she wouldn't want to admit.

Then, she heard a noise in a bush to her right, not even five feet from where she was standing. Astrid immediately threw her axe at it, with dark satisfaction that whatever had been stalking her was successfully incapacitated. However, no sooner did the axe leave her hand did a figure jump from behind her, successfully pinning her face down to the forest floor with a loud thump.

Astrid cried out in anger and surprise, grunting and struggling as she tried to get away from her captor.

"Get off and fight me like a man!" she yelled, enraged that she fell for the surprise attack.

Her assailant gave a dark chuckle at her challenge.

"I don't think so." he said, a mild humor in his voice that further infuriated Astrid.

"I'm not particularly fond of violence, and seeing as that would be the only outcome if I let you up, I can't."

Astrid gave a dark chuckle of her own. _A self-proclaimed pacifist, huh?_ That would work well in her favor if she somehow freed herself. The question remained though- if this stranger wasn't going to fight her, and obviously didn't want to kill her (he could've done so by now), what was his motive for her capture?

"...What do you want?" Astrid asked voicing her concern after a moments pause, her voice dripping with obvious contempt for the man. He remained quiet, so she continued.

"Do you intend to ransom me? Sell me off somewhere? _What_? What do you want with me?!"

Though her voice sounded angry, it was a facade to conceal how truly scared she was, and it showed slightly in the way her voice shook. She was Astrid Hofferson, one of the fiercest in her village. She would not show fear, especially in the face of the enemy. It would shame her to no end if she did.

The man paused for a moment before answering her, trying to find the words to explain himself.

"I want...your help." he said, his voice laced with slight desperation.

Astrid took a moment to process his words, her face scrunched into that of confusion before laughing humorlessly at what she just heard. How ironic.

"Are you _stupid_?" she spat.

"What the Hel makes you think I would _ever_ want to help you?"

She could feel his grip tighten further on her arms with an almost bruising strength, causing her fear to bubble up to the surface once again.

"Because you want to end the war with the dragons just as much as I do."

He was solemn, determination and earnestness clearly communicated in that one sentence.

Astrid froze in surprise. She hardly believed what her ears just heard. "End the war" that's lasted for generation after generation? That was the most idiotic thing she had ever heard. Downing a thousand night furies seemed more possible than what her captor was insinuating…

...and yet…

...he seemed so sincere in his declaration.

Astrid heaved a heavy sigh, her curiosity getting the better of her suspicion.

"Alright, I'll bite. If you let me up and explain, I won't attack you."

The man sighed with relief.

"Can you promise that you won't attack me?" he asked, still wary that she'd turn on him if given the chance.

Astrid huffed in indignation that he thought she might be lying, but then again, she wouldn't have trusted herself either.

"On my honor, I will not attack you."

Satisfied with their agreement, her captor released her and stood up. Astrid hurriedly followed suit, brushing the dirt off her front.

When she turned around to face the man, she was met with brilliantly green eyes framed with, what Astrid begrudgingly admitted to herself as, very handsome features. He seemed to be around 18 or so, about her age. His hair was a reddish-brown color, unkempt and reaching his ears. Like her, he did not have the physique of most vikings, but was more lean and slim. He was covered in leathers, which was also unlike most vikings who traditionally chose to wear wool and furs...

Astrid caught herself, realizing that she was openly staring at the man and blushed. Her eyes darted up to his green eyes, and saw that they did not meet hers. It dawned upon her that he was staring at her too.

She coughed uncomfortably, and his green eyes looked up to meet hers with a strong intensity. Astrid fought the urge to look away and stared him squarely in the eye.

"Well, explain then." she said brusquely, trying to hide her embarrassment.

He gave a nod, and started to speak.

"I've come to learn about the cause of the raids that plague your village." he began.

"Unlike what most of you vikings think, the dragons don't raid villages because they want to, but because they have to. There's this..._thing_ in their nest, their queen, that makes them. If they don't bring enough food back, they get eaten themselves."

He looked at Astrid, who was listening in rapt attention, trying to make sense of this new information. Pleased that she at least appeared to be open to what he was saying, he continued.

"That's why I came to Berk, in search of allies that would help me to defeat the creature. You happened to be the first person I've met since arriving here and I hoped that you would maybe be the first to accept." he finished, looking at her imploringly.

Astrid stared at him incredulously, stuck between wanting to believe him and still being suspicious of whether or not he was lying to her. However, if he _was_ telling the truth, she had so many questions she wanted to ask. The first and foremost question she voiced aloud.

"_How _were you able to find the nest vikings have been searching for since we first sailed here?"

Glad that he caught her interest, he replied, "Only dragons can find the nest. I did it with the help of one."

Astrid looked at him as if he sprouted a second head, once again dumbfounded by what he was saying.

"Help of a dragon? Care to elaborate on that?" she said, suspicions rising once again. "As if a dragon would willingly help anybody!"

"They aren't the monsters you think they are." he said defensively. "They are kind, amazing creatures-"

"And they have killed _hundreds_ of us!" she interrupted, unbelieving that someone could sympathize with the bloodthirsty creatures.

"And you've killed thousands of them! They defend themselves! Like I said earlier, they have no choice." he said entreatingly. "I've lived among them my whole life, some are like family to me. Hearing of this creature that has been the cause of so much death and destruction...I couldn't just sit by and do _nothing."_

All of this information was making Astrid's head spin, and she didn't know what to make of it.

"So let me get this straight…" she started, "You've lived among dragons your whole life, you found the dragon's nest with the help of a dragon, discovered a queen that controls them, and you sailed to Berk to recruit people to help you defeat the queen. Does that about sum it up?"

"Yeah, except for the part that I sailed here, I flew here on the back of a changewing." he said as-a-matter-of-factly.

Astrid was completely floored, and the spinning in her head intensified. She looked at him, about to demand for some kind of proof of all of these claims, but her vision started to spin as well and she had to fight to stay focused.

"Are you okay?" he asked, seeing how disoriented she looked.

"I'm fine!" she snapped, but even as she said so, she started to stagger, unable to keep her balance.

The strain that her body had put up with in the last twenty four hours had finally caught up to Astrid. With the combined lack of sleep, food, and water, the physical exertion of the raid, and the mental exertion of meeting this stranger, Astrid finally collapsed, cursing her own body for its weakness. Strong arms caught her before she hit the ground, and unfortunately for her, Astrid didn't have the strength to protest or push him away. Before becoming completely unconscious, she felt him gently gathering her in his arms and carrying her to some unknown destination as her world faded to black.

**Special shout out to Meg the Patriot, who gave me my first review! I nearly cried tears of joy at the fact that someone had enjoyed my first story so much. Thanks also to those of you who fav'd and followed, I'll be trying to update at least once every week for you lovely people! Until next time! ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**I made a few edits to the last chapter, specifically the last paragraph where Astrid collapses. I made it so that Hiccup caught her before she fell, just so you guys are aware. Other than that, no major changes to the story line!**

**I had so much fun writing this particular chapter. Oh the intrigue! THE INTRIGUE! I can't remember how many times I fangirled while writing this, but I know it was a lot. Hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! XD**

**Oh yeah, and I don't own anything, yada yada yada. **

"Are you okay?" Hiccup asked, seeing how dazed the woman before him looked.

She immediately snapped back at him.

"I'm fine!" she snarled, eyes glaring daggers at him.

Her menacing gaze didn't faze him in the slightest, but the way her eyes couldn't stay focused and how she was slightly swaying with unbalance worried him. Hiccup frowned at the girl, giving her a look of disbelief. She was indeed not fine judging from her appearance.

_It looks like she's about to faint._ He thought, worry etched onto his face.

It didn't take long for her to do just that.

Her knees buckled and she started to sink to the forest floor cursing angrily, seeing that her body had betrayed her. Realizing she was going to fall, Hiccup caught her quickly before she hit the ground, looking at her with concern. Her face was flushed, and her breathing was coming out short and ragged. Hiccup put a hand to her forehead, eyes widening with alarm.

"You're burning up!" he said to her, not quite sure if she could still hear him. Hiccup got no response, reaffirming that she had indeed fainted.

"Hang on..." He murmured as he gently wrapped one arm around her back while the other scooped her beneath the knees. Hiccup lifted her up, holding her securely to his chest, and walked as quickly as he could without jostling her.

He was carrying her over to the cove, where he kept all his supplies. He knew he first had to get some water in her. The girl looked like she might be dehydrated, and it would be no laughing matter if that were the case. She could easily go into shock and, as he knew from experience, not much could be done once that happened. As for the fever, Hiccup also happened to have brought with him some elder flower tea- he would brew that for her as well to help bring the fever down.

Hiccup looked down at the troublesome, unconscious girl nestled in his arms as he walked, and slightly blushed. She was very beautiful. He had noticed that since he first laid eyes on her, despite how menacing she also looked. Out of all the women he's seen during his travels from village to village, none had appeared quite like she did. The person he was holding had such a delicate and graceful figure, yet was so strong. Her ability to throw an axe with so much force testified to that, as well as the fact that he had had some trouble keeping her pinned. Truly, her ferocity matched that of any viking he'd witnessed. Hiccup had also seen a number of blond-haired and blue-eyed vikings, but the color of their hair and eyes couldn't compare to hers. The hues that graced her features seemed to be of the truest and purest colors of gold and azure. Unquestionably, this person was easily the most beautiful Hiccup had ever seen.

_I'm sure she would look even more beautiful if she smiled…_ he thought offhandedly, trying to picture her smiling.

Hiccup shook his head, trying to rid himself of his thoughts and focus at the task at hand. Water. She desperately needed water.

It was no easy task trying to climb down to the cove with the bundle he had in his arms. He had to be extra careful so as to not misstep and accidentally send both of them tumbling down the rocky path. It took awhile, but he finally made it to the small crevice that led out to the open space of the cove. He breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. However, before he could reach the small lake where his supplies were located, a dragon as black as night itself started bounding towards him.

::Hiccup! You're back!:: the dragon said as he approached.

Then, finally noticing the person Hiccup was holding in his arms, his cheerful manner faded and he stopped short.

::...Who is that?:: he asked, eyes narrowing slightly at the girl.

"Hopefully, our first recruit." Hiccup answered as he began walking towards his supplies once again.

The dragon followed in closely behind, curious about this new stranger.

::I see. Well, that took you less time than expected.:: He walked closely behind Hiccup, trying to get a better look at the newcomer. After all, it wasn't everyday that he got to meet a human who didn't have the intent to kill him. He began to sniff her, investigating.

"Toothless, I know you're curious, but leave her be. She isn't well. Besides, you might not want to be around her when she wakes up." Hiccup said with slight exasperation over the dragon's hovering.

Toothless stopped at Hiccup's reproach. ::What's that supposed to mean?:: he asked, his suspicions rising.. ::Is she dangerous?::

Hiccup sighed, not wanting to explain all that happened. "I'll fill you in later, okay bud? Right now, I need to help her."

Toothless snorted in discontent but accepted his answer anyway, giving Hiccup and their guest some space.

Hiccup knelt down and gingerly placed the girl on the ground, taking extra care with her head. Once he placed her in the grass, he reached for his water skin and uncorked it. He sat her up gently, bringing the water to her parched lips. However, to Hiccup's dismay, most of the water just dripped down her chin, hardly any of it going down her throat. He started to panic. He tried a few more times, with no success, which only increased his sense of dread.

_What do I do?_ he thought desperately. _I can't leave her like this, she needs water! She obviously isn't going to wake up anytime soon, and I can't just wait around until she goes into shock! How can I get her to drink? It's not like I can _force _her to drink unless..._

_...unless…_

_...unless...I..._

Hiccup blushed madly at what he was thinking. Forcing her _was_ an option, but he didn't want to resort to that. It would feel as if he were violating her. So, again and again, he tried getting her to drink from the water skin, but inevitably, again and again he failed.

"Oh, to _Hel_ with it!" Hiccup finally exclaimed in frustration after his repeated failures. If there was no other way to get water into her, he had to resort to forcing her.

Hiccup brought the water skin to his own lips, filling his mouth with water before setting it aside. He lifted her up and, with his free hand, used his thumb to force her mouth open. He hesitated for a moment, feeling guilty for what he was doing, but made his resolve knowing it had to be done. Hiccup looked at her, giving a silent apology for what he was about to do and, with that, leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.

He was successful in getting her to drink that way, every drop that had been in his mouth had transferred to hers with no complications. The only problem was, Hiccup had a hard time controlling his thoughts. He tried so hard not to think about what he was doing, he really did, but his actions just felt so..._intimate_. He tried not to think about how her lips, though chapped, were pliant against his. He tried not to think of how sweet she tasted, reminiscent of honey. He tried not to think about how her fragrance, though overpoweringly smoky, held whispers of pine and wildflowers.

Odin help him.

By the time Hiccup pulled away, he was thoroughly red from his intrusive thoughts and felt disgusted with himself for being so shameless. He had _enjoyed_ it, and he felt repulsed by himself for that. However, her need to be hydrated took precedence over everything else so, again and again, Hiccup would fill his mouth with water and would force it into her own, trying so hard not think.

Unfortunately for him, while he was giving her water for the fourth time, the girl regained consciousness. It only took moments for all Hel to break loose.

**Just so you guys know, I've been procrastinating on so much homework writing these chapters, hence, the frequent updates. I really need to buckle down you guys, even though I immensely enjoy writing this story. You can still look forward to a new chapter once a week, but probably no sooner than that. Probably. **

**Well, until next time! :) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, here's the next chapter. I said I **_**probably**_ **wouldn't update until a week after the last chapter, but, here we are! I just don't have any self restraint, or time manage very well, aaand have probably screwed myself over for a few tests...but whatever. I do what I want! **

**If I had the money, I'd buy all the rights to this movie, but since I'm broke, I don't own anything from httyd.**

The first thing Astrid noticed as she started to regain consciousness was that she felt warm. Very warm. It was almost as if she were wearing her heaviest winter clothes and was laying underneath layer after layer of thick furs. For someone who was more used to below zero degree temperatures, she was sweltering from the uncomfortable heat.

The second thing she noticed was the sensation of cool water going down her throat. In her dazed state of mind, that didn't seem out of the ordinary. She was, after all, very thirsty and the water was soothing to her parched throat. The only thing that did raise flags in her mind was how the source from which the cold water was coming from felt, peculiarly, both soft and hot and strangely tasted of mint leaves.

_What is this? _she thought curiously in her daze, trying to make sense of the object pressed against her lips. Astrid slowly forced her eyes open, at first only seeing a blur. However, as her mind started to clear and her eyes began to focus, she realized with horror what the sensation was.

A man was kissing her.

She choked and spluttered on the water that was in her mouth, and tried getting as far away from him as possible- but not before landing a solid punch to his jaw. Astrid quickly moved away, crawling backwards and fumbling to stand up. It took her a few tries to where she could balance herself enough to get on her feet. She could feel her eyes start to sting with tears of mortified rage as she looked upon the person who had the audacity to assault her while she was unconscious.

"How _dare_ you!" she choked out, voice breaking with uncontrolled emotion.

No man had ever touched her so intimately before- Astrid had made sure of that. Her father had brought her up to be as strong as any viking so that she'd be able to protect herself not only from the beasts that plagued their village, but also from the men who inhabited it. Though, sometimes to her, there was no difference between the two. Astrid would beat bloody any male that tried going beyond her boundaries, Snotlout Jorgenson being the first to come to mind. That man just couldn't take a hint.

But this man, this..._beast_ before her, had taken advantage of her and defiled her when she couldn't fight back or defend herself, and that was beyond unforgivable. What else could he have her done to her while she slept? What _would_ he have done if Astrid didn't wake up when she did? It made her blood run cold thinking about it.

"Wait, hold on a second, I can explain!" With one hand, he was holding the bruise starting to form on the side of his face while the other he raised towards Astrid, trying (and failing) to placate her.

"I'm not listening to _anything_ you have to say!"

Her eyes blazed with hate and rage. She regretted ever trusting him, even though that trust was short lived and had never amounted to much to begin with. Astrid was going to kill him. She was going to make him regret what he had done. He was out in the open, and unlike last time, he couldn't run or hide from her wrath. Astrid quickly advanced towards him, yelling furiously as she ran.

"Wait! _Please_!"

His beseeching fell on deaf ears as she began throwing punches at him, letting out her raw enmity for him with each swing. To her immense anger and frustration, the man effortlessly dodged every hit she pitched at him while at the same time, tried to get her to calm down. His words had the opposite effect, only aggravating her even more.

"_Fight back_!" Astrid yelled with rage. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. Never before had a person made her feel so weak, so powerless, so..._humiliated_. He didn't even deign to to treat her seriously as an opponent, refusing to fight her.

"If you would just-" dodge.

"-listen to me-" duck.

"-for a second!" block.

"NO!" Astrid roared back at him as she continued her barrage of kicks and punches.

The man seemed to have had enough by the look of irritation on his face, his patience worn thin by her boar-headed stubbornness and unrelenting rage.

He caught her next punch, much to Astrid's surprise, and swept his leg underneath her, causing her to fall backwards and hit the ground. He quickly pinned down her arms and legs with his own, Astrid fighting and screaming all the way to try and break free. To Astrid's dismay, no matter how much she fought and struggled, despite all the strength she prided herself in, she just wasn't able to escape- but that didn't keep her from trying, much to the aggravation to her captor.

"ENOUGH!" he finally bellowed at her when she wouldn't stop struggling, causing her to flinch.

Astrid went rigid and turned her face away from him, her hope of gaining freedom lost. She screwed her eyes tight and clenched her jaw, trying to focus on her anger, focus on her hatred, focus on _something_ so that she wouldn't break down in tears in front of him. In the face of being so powerless, her emotions were one of the few things she still had control of. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. He, however, seemed intent on making her face him.

"Look at me." he told her firmly.

Astrid refused to at first, wanting to defy any demand he had the gall to give her, but he just hovered over her, patiently waiting. After a while, Astrid realized that he would wait as long as it took and so, she begrudgingly looked at him. Though her eyes were defiant and held a hard glare, there was a strong sense of despair and fear behind them. Unwarranted tears were freely flowing from Astrid, running down the sides of her face and onto the grass beneath them.

Astrid saw his face change instantaneously from that of anger to shock when he realized she was crying. His countenance became impossibly contrite before letting out a tired sigh, looking at her solemnly.

"Have you ever seen someone go into shock?" he asked her quietly.

Astrid's own face changed from that of anger to incredulity. His seemingly random question had thrown her off, leaving her baffled. Yes...she had unfortunately seen someone go into shock before. Astrid had seen it happen to men who lost too much blood on the battlefield, to animals who had wandered off and were exposed too long to the cold, and a number of other instances that were all usually fatal. She answered him with a small nod, not trusting her voice.

He looked her dead in the eye as he spoke next.

"I've also seen it a number of times myself. I didn't mention this earlier, but I've visited a number of villages before Berk. I'm sure, like them, you keep dragons as prisoners. Every captive dragon I've seen had been kept in horrible conditions- hardly any living space, given just enough food to survive, and their drinking water wasn't exactly the cleanest. I remember this one particular dragon that wasn't given any water at all. The person in-charge must have overlooked it, or most likely, didn't give a damn about the poor creature. By the time I came back to him to give him some water, he had fainted, and moments later, went into shock from his severe dehydration. He died shortly after."

He looked at her solemnly, but Astrid could only gape at him, dumbstruck by what he was insinuating.

_He thought I was going to die from shock?_

Then she remembered that there had been water in her mouth. In her blind rage, Astrid had forgotten about that small detail, too focused on her anger and on beating him bloody.

_He thought I was going to die..._

The more she thought about it, the more horrified she became. She realized that her going into shock and subsequent death would've been the likely scenario if he had not acted as he did.

Astrid had had no water since before the raid, and during battle she had lost a lot of fluid from the physical exertion and from the heat of the flames. She had also been so eager to search for the night fury that she had forgotten to bring water with her before she left. Her recklessness could have cost Astrid her life.

_It's no wonder I fainted…but that doesn't explain-_

"Why did you give water to me like..._that_?" she voiced aloud, starting to get angry again. Surely he couldn't find an excuse for giving her water the way he did.

"You couldn't have just-"

"Believe me," he interrupted, looking at her with exasperation, "I tried so many times to just pour the water into your mouth before I…" His face slightly flushed and he looked away. He didn't want to finish that sentence.

"It...just wasn't working. Hardly any of the water went in, and I got a little desperate. I realize that what I did wasn't preferable, but it was the only way that worked. I apologize for the distress I caused you."

Astrid frowned in contemplation as she looked at him, searching for any signs that he might be lying to her. She could find none, his face and demeanor exuding absolute sincerity. However, even after accepting that what he was telling her the truth, and even though Astrid understood why he did what he did, she still held lingering feelings of anger. That couldn't be helped though, he did, after all, _kiss_ her while she was unconscious, and no matter how pure his intentions, Astrid still felt as if she were violated. She also reluctantly admitted to herself that he did in fact save her life, and as a result, she owed him a debt of gratitude- one that her honor would force her to repay.

"...Thank you." she said to him, finally accepting his explanation.

He visibly relaxed and let out a relieved sigh, giving her a small smile.

"You're welcome."

His lips then quirked with amusement, seeing that she couldn't look at him in the eye during their exchange. Astrid couldn't help it though, the whole ordeal had been overwhelmingly embarrassing for her. Her pride was wounded by him saving her life (after having _fainted_), not being able to lay a finger on him before or after that initial punch, and then having to _thank_ him by the end of all that. Astrid was very much mortified.

She summoned the courage to turn to look at him after his response though, about to yell at him to get off of her, seeing as he still had her pinned to the floor.

Astrid was momentarily stunned when she did, followed by feeling extremely vulnerable. He was so _close_. So close in fact, that she could see even the faintest of freckles among the many that splashed across his face, as well as the different shades of green that colored his eyes. Astrid found his eyes particularly captivating. They held the verdant hues of a forest, his pupils rimmed by an iridescent color of green. As mesmerizing as they were, the intellect that was expressed behind them gave Astrid the uncomfortable impression that he could see right through her.

Astrid felt his warm breath brush lightly against her, causing her skin to prickle from the sensation. A hazy memory of the taste of mint leaves intruded her thoughts as she caught his scent, causing her to turn red. Astrid looked at him, suddenly speechless by the person before her.

"...So..." she said, finally finding her voice.

He cocked his head slightly, raising his eyebrows quizzically as he looked at her.

"Yes, what is it?"

"...Can you please get off of me?"

His eyes widened, realizing that he still had her trapped beneath him. He scrambled to remove himself, uttering apologies all the while. Astrid got up slowly, suddenly feeling very weak. The burst of adrenaline that rushed through her earlier when she awoke was now gone, leaving her feeling the full force of her fatigue.

"Wait here a second." The man said after noticing her tired state.

He walked a short distance away to some bags that were nearby the lake. He rummaged through them, and after finding what he was looking for, returned to Astrid and offered her a large water skin.

"Here, you should drink this."

Any other time Astrid would've refused such an act of generosity, but the dryness in her throat demanded to be quenched. After giving him a soft "thank you", she accepted the water and proceeded to quaff it down, nearly choking from her eagerness. Once again, she was indebted to this stranger.

After waiting for Astrid to finish off the last of the water, he spoke again with a curious expression on his face.

"You know, I never did catch your name."

She hesitated before answering, still feeling wary of him and, for a split second, contemplated on whether or not she should give her actual name. She dismissed the thought- after all, what's the harm in a name?

"My name's Astrid." she said as she handed him back the empty water skin. "Yours?"

He beamed at her. "I'm Hiccup, a pleasure to meet you."

She gave him a curious look. That name sounded oddly familiar, as if she's heard it before in passing but can't recall from where or when. Astrid shrugged it off- it it was worth remembering, she would have remembered it.

Hiccup's head suddenly perked upwards, listening to something that she couldn't hear. After a pause he nodded to some unseen person, then looked at her again, a nervous expression on his face that made Astrid wary with alarm.

"Do you remember before when I told you that dragons are kind and amazing creatures, and that they would never attack unless to defend themselves?"

Astrid's eyes narrowed, her suspicions increased at his words and wondered what Hiccup was planning.

"...Yes, I remember."

He gave a short nod.

"Good. There is someone here who wants to meet you, so please keep that in mind while I introduce him."

Astrid went on high alert, a feeling of dread forming in the pit of her stomach as she realized the implications of Hiccup's words.

"Toothless, you can come out now!"

**Hehehe, won't Astrid be in for a surprise in the next chapter! XD Again, I** _**probably**_ **won't be updating until another week, but like I said, I'm bad with managing my time so it may or may not be sooner than that. Also, I'm not sure if you guys are aware, but Netflix will be showing the newest season of httyd (Race to the Edge) during June of this year. I got so flippin stoked at seeing the released images and tidbits of new info, it looks so awesome! Seriously, if you haven't already, check it out! Well...that's it for now, until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry this took way longer than expected, I've had a very rough week. Some real shit had went down and still is, so please bear with me if I am a few days late on updates :(**

**Anywaaaay, here's chapter 5, hope you like it, and I still don't own anything.**

Hiccup hadn't expected her name to be so...well, _normal_. He'd heard a slew of viking names that ranged from being frightening to just plain disgusting. From what he had learned, vikings believed that giving their children hideous names would scare off gnomes and trolls- as if their charming demeanor wouldn't. _Astrid_, however, was a nice name and suited her well considering that it meant unusual strength and beauty.

"I'm Hiccup, a pleasure to meet you." he said after taking the now empty water skin, smiling at Astrid. She gave him a peculiar look in return, frowning in thought after hearing his name. Hiccup's smile slightly dropped, his eyebrows furrowing somewhat in confusion. Sure, Hiccup knew his name was odd, but again, not the strangest he's heard. Before he could ask for the reason behind her reaction, his thoughts were interrupted by that of Toothless'.

::Forgetting someone?::

His eyes widened and his head jerked up in surprise, having completely forgotten that Toothless had been keeping a distance like Hiccup had asked. The night fury hid his presence well, so well in fact that it was no wonder that Hiccup had easily forgotten that the elusive dragon was still watching and waiting somewhere close by. He was grateful that Toothless had been sensitive enough to the situation between him and Astrid that he didn't show himself and intervene during their struggle. That _definitely_ wouldn't have gone over well.

::I wouldn't trust this stranger Hiccup, she seems dangerous.:: Hiccup could hear the distaste and suspicion in his voice, but then Toothless continued in a more thoughtful tone.

::However...it does appear that she can also be reasoned with. I'd like to introduce myself as well and see how she responds to me, but warn her- I won't hesitate to defend myself if she attacks, hopeful recruit or not.::

The threat was clear in Toothless' voice- Hiccup knew that he meant what he said and that would put both of them in a precarious situation. Should she attack, Toothless would attack as well if only to incapacitate her to the point where he no longer felt threatened. Hiccup could intervene before any damage occurs, but what if she couldn't be reasoned with this time? After all, the blood feud between vikings and dragons had lasted generations. If she _did_ decide that Hiccup was an enemy, he couldn't very well just let her go either. She knew too much.

He could either kidnap Astrid or kill her to keep her silent, the latter of which he didn't want to consider as an option, which left him with the former. Kidnapping her would leave a bad taste in his mouth, but Hiccup would do it if it became necessary for his and Toothless' survival. However, if he could convince her, if he could make her understand, Hiccup would finally have an ally, someone who could help him change the world for the better, and that was a gamble he was willing to take.

Hiccup nodded to let Toothless know of his approval, then turned towards Astrid trying his best to conceal his apprehension.

"Do you remember before when I told you that dragons are kind and amazing creatures, and that they would never attack unless to defend themselves?"

Hiccup could see her eyes narrow at him with a suspicious look.

"...Yes, I remember."

He nodded at her, hoping that his nervousness wasn't too apparent.

"Good. There is someone here who wants to meet you, so please keep that in mind while I introduce him."

The look of alarm she gave him made Hiccup even more anxious. Hiccup sent a silent prayer to the gods before calling out Toothless, hoping that whatever happened next wouldn't end in disaster.

"Toothless, you can come out now!"

::Finally!::

Hiccup heard a low growl far off to his left, causing both him and Astrid to turn towards the noise. Toothless slunk over the large boulder near the cove wall he had decided to rest on, then hopped down from rock to rock until he was on level ground. All the while, his eyes were narrowed at Astrid, looking wary and crouching low to the ground as he approached.

She backed away slowly from Toothless, maintaining eye contact as well. She looked shocked at the sight of him, more so than looking afraid.

"You…"

Toothless' ears perked up at Astrid's voice, curious about her reaction.

It was a relief that she didn't attack him right away, and it made Hiccup hopeful. Wanting to show her that Toothless wasn't a threat, he walked up to the giant creature, to which gave Astrid a look of Alarm, and began scratching his head underneath his chin. Toothless relaxed at his touch, warbling softly from Hiccup's comforting hand.

All the while, Astrid was gaping in astonishment at the casual interaction between the two.

Hiccup motioned for her to come closer.

"Come on over and meet him. Like I told you, Toothless won't hurt you if you don't make yourself a threat. "

Astrid shook her head, still shocked by what she was seeing and clearly did not want to get any closer to the dragon than she already was. Toothless, however, wasn't having any of that and began to make his way towards Astrid himself, until there was a five foot distance between them. Hiccup could see that Astrid was fighting the urge to run as she stood her ground, though by the way she was crouched defensively, it looked like she would if she felt any danger. Hiccup had walked towards Astrid as well, and stood adjacent to her as Toothless began to sniff the air around her. Toothless then moved closer, his head was low to the floor, looking up at Astrid carefully, but also with curiosity. He sniffed at her knees, causing Astrid to jerk back. Hiccup held her in place, not wanting her to run away.

"Calm down, he won't hurt you. He's just really curious."

Though what he said didn't cause her to relax, she didn't look like she was going to run away any more. He released her slowly, and for a few tense moments, no one moved.

Then, Astrid did something that Hiccup wouldn't have expected. She began to get closer to the night fury herself. She was crouched, moving sideways with her hand extended towards Toothless, looking apprehensive but determined. Her actions had also surprised Toothless, but he seemed pleased by her efforts.

::She is more brave and open-minded than most. Perhaps she would make a good recruit after all.::

Astrid's hand stilled just inches before touching Toothless' snout, looking unsure of whether or not he would attack her and bite off her hand. It was Toothless who closed the distance between them, causing Astrid to flinch at the contact. However, after realizing she was in no danger, Astrid relaxed slightly, seemingly both fascinated and disturbed at the sight of her touching a dragon. She slowly withdrew her hand, looking into the wide green eyes of the dragon with an emotion Hiccup couldn't quite place.

Hiccup saw Astrid's eyes widen as soon as she noticed the wound on Toothless' right wing. Without looking away, she spoke to Hiccup.

"...What happened to him?"

His mind flashed back to the night before, hearing Toothless crash down in the forest and coming to his rescue. Unfortunately, when trying to fly away, Toothless had crash landed into the cove, trapped by the steep, high walls. Toothless' left wing was torn so badly that it left him unable to stay airborne. The recollection made Hiccup bristle with anger. Though he knew the vikings didn't know any better, he couldn't help the feeling of outrage that came over him at the thought of vikings injuring or killing dragons.

"He was shot down the other night by someone." he answered, voice laced with anger. "Thankfully, it wasn't anything too serious, but the gash in his wing will take some time to heal properly. For now he's stranded. As a matter of fact…we both are."

Hiccup took a risk divulging that bit of information, but judging from what he had seen from her character so far, he felt like he could trust her. She frowned at him, puzzled by what he said.

"What do you mean?"

Hiccup rubbed his neck and sighed. Then, looking at Astrid somberly, he explained.

"The changewing that I came here with...he hasn't come back. He went out to fish for some food- somewhere far away where he wouldn't be spotted. I think he may have been found by vikings or worse, had gotten too close to the queen's nest and fell under her control. I've been looking around this whole island trying to find someone who could help me fly out of here, to get the necessary supplies to help heal Toothless' wing and to search for my missing friend, but this whole island seems to be almost void of them. Even when I do happen to find one, they fly off in fear. I should have guessed as much though- this place isn't the most habitable for a dragon."

He looked at Astrid imploringly, hoping that he was right to trust her. She sighed as well, shaking her head slightly with her eyes on the ground before looking up at him.

"If you are worried about me turning you in, don't be." she answered, her voice sounding tired. "As much as I hate to admit it, I owe you my life. It's only fitting that I would spare yours by keeping your presence here a secret."

Hiccup released the breath he didn't realize he had been holding, relieved by her reply.

::It seems that she has a sense of honor as well.:: Toothless said with approval.

"Honor _is_ a significant part of viking culture." Hiccup said in reply to Toothless.

"However…" Astrid continued, giving him a strange look.

"As for helping you...I've still yet to decide. I still don't exactly trust you, and even if I did decide to help, I could get caught and tried for treason. That would mean banishment or worse for me, and I am not willing to risk that."

::That's understandable. It's enough for me that she keeps our presence here a secret.:: Toothless snorted, then proceeded to lay down and rest on the forest floor, looking up at the two. Hiccup nodded at Toothless in agreement.

"Same here bud, but hopefully we can-"

"What are you doing?" Astrid interrupted, looking at Hiccup with incredulity.

Hiccup paused, puzzled by her question. To his knowledge, he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary.

"...What?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"Were you...were you _talking_ to him?" Astrid spoke as if she couldn't even believe what she was asking.

Hiccup looked back at her, slightly taken aback by his own forgetfulness. Having been around dragons and being able to communicate with them his whole life, he had forgotten that what Toothless had said wasn't able to be heard by Astrid. That would explain the look she gave him moments before.

"Yes, I am." he replied admittedly.

"And you can _understand_ him?" Astrid looked like she had a hard time accepting this, which was understandable, so Hiccup went on to explain.

"It is an honor and privilege to be granted the ability to communicate with dragons, but for the last few centuries, not many have earned the trust of a dragon to be given that gift. My mother and myself are the only ones that I am aware of that currently have this ability."

Astrid gaped at him, stunned and at a loss for words by yet another new bit information. She recollected herself after a moment, eyes alight with awe.

"So...what you're saying is...if I gain their trust I can communicate with dragons too?" The thought obviously appealed to Astrid, and while he wanted her to be able to understand the long forgotten language as well, he also wanted her to understand the cost that would come with it.

"There will be no turning back if you do." he said solemnly. "Would you be able to handle it? All your life, you've assumed that dragons are a non intelligent species that are only capable of death and destruction. Once you realize that they are self aware and are capable of emotion, could you really go back to the life you live now? Could you look a dragon in the eye as you kill it, hearing its cries for mercy and compassion? Especially now that you know that the only reason why they raid or attack is for their survival, could you justify that death? You would no longer have the excuse of ignorance for their murder, could you bear that guilt?"

Astrid was stunned into silence by Hiccup's words, her expression akin to horror. Though he felt bad that he had induced such a reaction from her, he was satisfied that his point was made.

"Until you decide to change your current way of life, you should not seek to bond with, and consequentially understand, dragons."

Astrid nodded slowly, her blue eyes wide and her expression solemn.

The thundering sound of a horn being blown broke the silence that had ensued, causing Astrid to whip around towards the direction of her village.

"Damn it, is already almost sundown! I've been gone too long!" she cursed with irritation. She turned to look at Hiccup, her features showing apparent stress.

"I have to go, there'll be a search party looking for me. I'll be back tomorrow- I still have a lot of questions to ask you."

Before she ran off, Hiccup stopped her.

"Wait, hold on a second!"

Astrid turned around, looking at Hiccup questioningly. He had run towards his things laying beside the lake, going through various items before unearthing a small leather pouch, which he proceeded to toss over to her. Astrid caught it mid air with her hand, looking at it with confusion.

"That should help bring your fever down." he said, offering a small smile.

For a moment, it looked as if she would toss it back at him, but she accepted the gift, mumbling her thanks and again, refusing to look at him while she did so. Hiccup smile broadened and called out after her as she hastily took off.

"See you tomorrow Astrid!"

She didn't turn around or respond to him, hastily making her way to the exit. She disappeared through the fissure that lead out of the cove, leaving both Hiccup and Toothless staring after her.

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Astrid slowed her pace to walk after she was a good distance from the cove. As she made her way through the forest, her mind was filled with a flurry of thoughts and emotions. In just one day..._one day_..her whole world had been turned upside down by a single person. Hiccup had claimed all sorts of fantastical things and had also done the strangest things, making her feel as if she were living in some sort of strange and twisted dream. He had challenged everything Astrid had known, everything that she lived for, and the doubt and fear that he was right started to creep into the back of her mind, frightening her. The night fury that she had been so excited to kill and skin as a trophy, an enemy that she would be praised as a hero for vanquishing...she had _touched_ it, or rather, it had touched her.

She didn't know what had come over her to make her act as she did. Maybe she wanted to prove to Hiccup that the night fury would try to attack her if she let her guard down...or maybe she wanted to see if what Hiccup was telling her was true. Astrid remembered looking into its eyes, not just staring it down as if it were something to kill, but actually _looking_ into its eyes. What she saw in those large, brilliant green orbs reminded her of the chilling truth that Hiccup claimed- that dragons were capable of thought and emotion. Astrid clenched her fists, inadvertently crushing the small leather pouch Hiccup had given her. She usually never accepted such gifts, but the earnestness and concern on Hiccup's face had prevented her from automatically throwing it back at him. He was a complete stranger, and yet he had shown kindness after kindness to her. Astrid looked at the bag he had handed to her, suddenly curious as to what its contents were. She unwound the string that sealed it, revealing some sort of combination of dried herbs- probably to make tea with. The scent of it wafted up to her, and she immediately recognized the fragrance. The tea he had given her had smelled of elder flowers...mixed with the distinct smell of dried mint leaves.

**For anyone who's interested, I wanted to try working on some httyd one-shots as well. I'd really love it if you guys could pm me some prompts! Well, that's it for now. See ya until the next chapter. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry once again for the late update, and also, thanks to those of you who have been favoriting this story and giving me reviews! You guys literally make my day better!**

**Well, on to the latest chapter and once again, I own nothing!**

It didn't take long for Astrid to reach the small search party that was out looking for her. She had only been about a kilometer away from the village when Ruffnut first spotted Astrid, running towards her and screaming excitedly, "I FOUND HER!"

Ruffnut nearly tackled her to the ground when she ran up to hug her friend, worry evident on her face.

"Are you okay? Where have you been?! Last I saw you, you were putting out fires, and then you were gone!"

Ruffnut looked at her expectantly, but Astrid could only balk at her question. Astrid belatedly realized that she had yet to come up with an excuse for her prolonged absence. Unfortunately, her mind had been too preoccupied with other thoughts to think of an alibi, not that it would do her much good anyway. Astrid hardly lied, but on the occasions that she did, she was terrible at it. Ruffnut especially could easily see through her efforts at deception, and would not hesitate to call her out on it.

Thankfully for her, she could hear the rest of the search party shouting and coming towards them, giving Astrid the means to dodge her question.

"I'm fine, I'll fill you in later, okay?"

Astrid winced as she said those words, knowing that Ruffnut would be hounding her for answers later. Though she seemed suspicious and displeased, she nodded after seeing how drained Astrid looked.

"Alriiight, later! I'm just glad you're okay."

Ruffnut punched her lightly on the arm, which Astrid returned with a small smile...which then quickly turned into a grimace seeing that Snotlout was quickly approaching them. The way he strutted towards her confidently with a smirk on his face simultaneously irritated and nauseated her.

"It's okay baby, don't worry I'm here now."

Every time he opened his mouth to speak to her, she couldn't help but become violent. Before Snotlout could even touch her, Astrid punched him in the gut, his arms that were outstretched towards her now cradling his stomach.

"I'm happy to see you too babe." Snotlout wheezed out.

Astrid huffed with annoyance, displeased by the sight before her.

"You're as thick skulled as ever." she said to him coldly.

Whenever he tried touching her it ended with the same result, but for some unfathomable reason, he just couldn't get it through his head that she didn't think favorably of his advances.

The sound of footfalls in the distance turned Astrid's attention away from the man doubled over before her, peering at the quickly approaching figures. Tuffnut, followed by Fishlegs, soon came into view, both panting slightly from running.

"Astrid! You're okay!" Fishlegs called out after reaching the ever growing crowd around Astrid.

Tuffnut however, didn't share Fishlegs' sentiment after getting a closer look at Astrid, flinching.

"Ugh, what happened to you? You look awful!" Tuffnut said, taking in Astrid's worn out and disheveled state. Ruffnut and Astrid simultaneously gave him a hard punch to the arm.

"OW! What was that for?!"

"For being an asshole!" Ruffnut shot back at him.

While the two inevitably broke out in yet another squabble, Astrid's parents, followed by the chief and a number of other villagers, also appeared in the distance. Astrid's heart dropped to her stomach at the sight of her parents who were fast approaching. It didn't take long for Astrid to find herself tightly wrapped into her mother's arms, nearly suffocating from being smothered. If Astrid didn't know any better, she would've sworn her mother wasn't trembling.

"Astrid! Dear, are you okay?"

The amount of worry and concern in her voice hit her conscience hard with guilt.

"I'm fine mom, really."

Astrid gave her mother a reassuring squeeze before parting from her embrace, fully aware that everyone's eyes were on her.

"What happened to you Astrid?"

Astrid turned to look at the chief, the panic that was growing inside of her making Astrid sick to her stomach. So much for dodging _that_ question.

"Nothing sir! I was just...practicing with my axe and just lost track of time. I'm sorry that I had caused everyone so much trouble."

She tried looking as earnest as possible, but it was hard to keep her voice from shaking, and even harder to maintain eye contact when she lied, but Astrid somehow managed to do both and hoped for the best.

However, when the chief then gave her a strange look, Astrid had a hard time to not appear panicked and fought to remain as calm as possible. She could feel her heart beating loudly in her chest as Stoic gave her a contemplative look before giving a nod.

"The important thing is that you're alright."

If she wasn't aware of the many eyes watching her, she would've sighed with relief. Turning away from Astrid, Stoic looked towards the rest of the search party and addressed them.

"Thank you everyone for coming out to help, you have done our village proud. Seeing as Astrid has no need for medical attention, we can return home and rest easy with the knowledge that one of our own has found her way back to us, safe and sound."

With that, the crowd began to disperse, returning to their homes as night began to settle over the village.

Though she knew that most everyone had been convinced by her story, the looks of her parents, Stoic, and Ruffnut told her that they didn't buy any of it. This was why she hardly lied- she was horrible at covering her ass.

The walk back to her house with her parents was filled with a tense silence, Astrid dreading what was to come once they reached home.

She walked into the house after her mother and father, and as soon as the door shut, her father spoke.

"What happened to you Astrid?"

Though his voice was quiet, there was no mistaking that he was very angry with her. Astrid's mouth felt dry and her palms felt sweaty at having to explain herself, but she still tried to look as confused and innocent as possible.

"What are you talking about? Like I said...I was practicing in the forest, as usual."

"Astrid, please don't lie to us."

Her mother also spoke softly, but rather than looking angry, she seemed more hurt. Though Astrid hated what she was doing and knew it would be so much easier to turn in Hiccup and the night fury...doing so would breach the promise she owed him.

"I'm not lying, you know I always-"

"Where's your axe?"

Her father was looking her dead in the eye, and looked even more furious seeing a flash of dread in Astrid's eyes.

_Shit. They know._

_One_ detail had screwed her over- she forgot to retrieve her axe from the bush she had thrown it in before returning to the village. Astrid would still stick to her story though, backtracking and making up new lies would make her seem even more suspicious.

"I forgot it. I came running back to the village as soon as I heard the horn blow."

They weren't buying that either by the way they were looking at her.

"Alright. Let's say you _did_ forget your axe. Why couldn't you at least tell someone where you were going instead of sneaking off then?"

Her father looked at her, almost challenging her to try lying to them again, but Astrid held her ground. She would stick to her story.

"It slipped my mind. I thought you guys would've guessed what I was doing."

Her father was turning red with rage, but still managed to speak without shouting.

"Don't lie to us Astrid. What were you up to in the forest?"

Astrid looked at her father, ready to repeat her alibi over and over again, but the quiet voice her mother broke the silence.

"Do we need to call Gothi?"

Her mother was pale, looking at her gravely, but her question only confused Astrid. Why would Gothi need to be involved?

"...Why?"

Her father turned even more red, which seemed impossible, and her mother repeated the question, almost in tears.

"Do we _need_ to call Gothi, Astrid?"

She saw her mother's eyes flicker for a moment to her stomach, and what she was insinuating finally clicked. Astrid flushed red with anger and indignation.

"NO! Its not like that!"

The amount of shock from Astrid didn't seem to convince them, even though it was genuine.

"What are we supposed to think Astrid? You disappear after the raid, telling _no one_ where you going or how long you'd be gone- it's not like you to sneak off like that and then _lie_ to us!"

Her mother looked heartbroken, and normally Astrid would feel horrible for being the cause, but all she could feel was anger.

"You don't need to call Gothi over to come and verify my _virtue,_ I assure you." Astrid spoke through gritted teeth, barely containing her outrage. She assumed that they would've thought better of her than that. Apparently not.

For a few tense moments, her father stared down at her, willing Astrid to come clean but she would not budge. He sighed angrily, looking at her coldly.

"So that's what you're going to go with then. You _forgot_ to tell someone where you were going, went training with your axe for hours on end, and then _forgot_ it in the forest?"

Astrid glared back at her father giving him a nod. She was not going to back down.

"If that's the way you're going to be, fine. _Fine_. Starting tomorrow, I will be requesting the chief that you be put on dragon stable duty for a month-"

"That's not fair!"

"AND" He looked at her pointedly. "You are no longer permitted to be out after sunrise until further notice. That's final."

Astrid stared down her father, feeling both angry and indignant. His own eyes held an anger before melting into that of disappoint- disappointment in _her_. Anger she could take, but the looks her father and mother were giving her now were unbearable. Without another word, she ran up the staircase to her room, slamming the door. She wanted to scream, she wanted to hit something. If she had her axe, she would have thrown in against the wall to release her rage, her confusion, her anguish- but seeing as she was so brainless as to forget her axe in the forest, she used her fist. The wood splintered from the force, and when Astrid removed her hand she could see the dark red blood that started to flow from her knuckles.

She felt horrible for lying to them. Astrid had never had a reason to and they trusted her but now...that look of disappointment on their faces, like she betrayed them- and in a way she had.

Astrid had a fitful sleep that night, having nightmare after nightmare that made her jolt awake in a cold sweat. It was just after sunrise when she heard her parents stir, hearing the clanking of building tools from downstairs. They would be headed of to have breakfast in the great hall with everyone before going out and working on rebuilding the neighbors' homes. Before winter came, it was important to make sure that the houses could keep out the cold and snow. After hearing the front door open and shut close, Astrid got dressed.

She knew that her father would be talking to the chief in the great hall by now to inform him of her punishment. Of all things, it had to be dragon stable duty. It would take hours to haul the cart of food and water for the beasts, and just as long to cart away the filth from their cages. It was a hard and demeaning job that only those who were unfortunate enough to lose in drawing straws.

From what she'd seen though, the people who were in charge would do the bare minimum to keep the dragons alive.

Astrid's recalled what Hiccup had said to her earlier in the cove, and slightly shuddered from the memory. She remembered how Hiccup's eyes darkened with anger as he described the treatment of the captive dragons. She would've had no problem doing the same level of work as everyone else had when doing stable duty, but now…

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Maybe if she hurried with her stable duties she could go down to the cove and make it back long before sundown.

Astrid made her way downstairs, grateful that she had the house to herself. She sat down at the table after grabbing some bread and cheese, and wolfed it down. Though she could've had a more filling breakfast of stew and watered down mead in the great hall with everyone else, the thought of being around her parents and the chief filled her with dread.

In the corner of her eye, she noticed the kettle that hung over the dying embers in the fireplace. Astrid then remembered the tea that Hiccup had given her that she stashed in the small bag near her hip. She noticed that she was still was feeling slightly feverish, and so, decided to make the tea.

She grabbed a large wooden mug from one of the shelves and poured out some of the water from the kettle. Astrid then grabbed a small piece of unused cheesecloth, put the tea in it, sealed it with some string, and dropped it into the mug along with a spoonful of honey.

The scent and warmth of it was comforting and relaxing to her. Astrid was thankful that she hadn't thrown the tea back at Hiccup, it was a welcome relief during the chaos she was going through.

Soon enough, Astrid regrettably drained the last of it and had to make her way to town to grab the food and supplies for the dragons. She stopped by the the barn where the supplies she needed were kept and grabbed a cart, four wooden barrels, a bucket, and a shovel. She then proceeded to make her way to the village well and began to fill the barrels with buckets of water. It was a long and tedious task, made worse by the fact that everyone was staring at her. Though Astrid's cheeks were burning from embarrassment, she continued her job until the barrels were full.

Next, she made her way over to the docks where she had to get the fish from the Ingermans. Thankfully, Fishlegs was there and helped her haul the four heavy baskets of fish up to the cart. She was grateful that he didn't mention anything about her situation, only telling her "Good luck" as she began to make her way towards the arena.

Through the overcast clouds, Astrid knew that the sun was almost at its peak as she trekked up to the arena, sweat beading down her face from the exertion. The weight of the cart forced her to go at a terribly slow pace, only reaching her destination after about an hour.

She could hear the dragons stir in their cages as the gate to the arena groaned as it lifted off the stone floor. She unloaded the barrels of water in the empty cage, opened them, and proceeded to pour them into the large trough.

Astrid decided to start with the more difficult dragon, the monstrous nightmare. She took the cart and closed the gate behind her and made her way up to the lever that would open the nightmare's cage. At first, it didn't come out right away, but slowly and surely it emerged and started making its way to the empty cage where water awaited. As soon as the dragon was completely in the cage, she closed the gate behind it so that it couldn't escape, then proceeded open the entrance to the arena to start cleaning.

Whoever had stable duty before her did _not_ do a good job. The smell of filth hit her before even seeing the inside of the enclosure, making Astrid gag. Half of the floor was covered in dragon feces and it took all of Astrid's willpower to not call it quits and walk away at the sight of the disgusting mess. She reluctantly forced herself to go in, and began shoveling the dung into the now empty cart, taking many trips to dump the waste off the cliff nearby the arena. It probably took an hour to finish cleaning out that one pen. Satisfied, she then placed a basket of fish in the clean cage and let out the monstrous nightmare from the other cage. Smelling the fish, he quickly made his way over to his cell and Astrid closed the gate behind him once he went in.

One down, three more to go.

She repeated the same process with the zippleback, then the gronckle, but when she opened the deadly nadder's pen, for the longest time it wouldn't come out. Astrid thought the creature might've passed away in its cage but she then saw her slowly emerge.

The pitiful dragon looked tired and weak. The day before, it had been let out into the ring with some young ones training to fight dragons, and it looked like it took quite a toll on the blue nadder.

Halfway to the cage containing the water, the dragon collapsed.

Astrid could feel her heart thudding loudly knowing what was about to happen, and before she knew what she was doing, Astrid went down into the arena to the dragon. It was still conscious, but its breathing was labored, just as Astrid's had been yesterday before she passed out. It's tail moved up slightly as if it was going to throw its poisonous spikes, but the nadder made no other moves to attack as it was eyed her angrily.

_They won't attack unless to defend themselves._

Astrid looked back at it, her arms raised up defensively and her voice soft.

"I'm not going to hurt you, okay?"

The nadder just stared at her for a moment, then slowly dropped her tail and looked at Astrid expectantly. Astrid then went and fetched the bucket she had left near the empty barrels, went into the cage with the trough, and grabbed a bucketful of water.

She slowly walked towards the nadder with the bucket trying to seem as nonthreatening as possible, and placed it about three feet from her. The dragon made an effort to reach it, but did not seem to have enough energy left to get to it and let out a pitiful squawk.

Astrid didn't want to get any closer to the dragon, but it depended on her and looked at her as if it were pleading for help. She picked up the bucket and got closer until she was kneeling next to the dragon's head. The nadder's mouth opened expectantly, panting with thirst. Astrid then poured the bucket into the dragon's mouth and it gulped down the water. Astrid did this about ten times until the dragon turned it's head away from the water that was being offered. The nadder looked better by the way it was now able to sit up, but was still clearly too weak to be walking about. Knowing it also wouldn't get food unless it was brought, Astrid carried over the basket of fish for the dragon.

It squawked at her excitedly at the sight of the food, and began devouring the fish once Astrid placed the basket before her. While the dragon ate, Astrid began clearing out it's cage.

Even after the dragon finished eating the fish, it just laid there in the middle of the arena, watching Astrid as she loaded the cart, left through the exit, and came back to do the same thing over and over.

Astrid wasn't worried about the creature attacking her while her back was turned or trying to escape. It was still too weak to do either, but it was unsettling to feel the dragon's eyes on her as it watched her every move.

Before long, Astrid was finished cleaning out the cage, then suddenly became aware of the issue of getting the nadder back into its cage. Usually, food was what motivated the dragons to go back to their chambers, but the dragon had already eaten the last of the fish. Astrid stood by the nadder's cage contemplating what she should do, but before she could figure out a plan, the nadder slowly stood up on its feet and began making its way towards her. Adrenaline started to rush through Astrid- as it always did when a dragon was advancing towards her- but the nadder made no movements to indicate it would attack.

It suddenly struck Astrid how familiar this scene was- it was so much similar to when she first met the night fury. As the nadder got closer and began sniffing Astrid, she held out her hand as she had before, palm towards the dragon. It looked at her hand, gave a soft squawk, then touched its snout against her hand, eyes closed.

After a moment, the nadder removed itself from Astrid's hand, and looked directly into her eyes.

::_Thank you_...::

Astrid's eyes went wide with shock, but before she could say anything, the dragon began making her way inside the cage, curled up in the corner, and began to sleep.

"Did you just…Did I just...?"

Astrid stood there, gaping at the sleeping dragon, but eventually waved off what had occurred. She was tired and probably just imagining things.

Astrid made her way up above the arena to close the nadder's cage, and proceeded to make her way back to the village with the now empty cart and barrels. There were only three more hours until sundown, and Astrid needed to hurry if she wanted to make a trip to the cove. She had so much to ask Hiccup, and so little time until sundown.

**Dun...dun...DUN! XD Until next time you guys!**


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